


Moments

by afteriwake



Series: A Little Holmes [9]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-03
Updated: 2012-07-03
Packaged: 2017-11-09 03:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/450688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was an eventful day for Sherlock and Abigail, with new friends, a milestone reached and a second chance at getting along with someone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moments

**Author's Note:**

> I am so so sorry if this rambles. I just couldn’t stop writing this. ::ashamed face::

Molly was out of her cast a little later than she’d thought she would be, and Sherlock did his best to invite her over often until she was able to go back to work so she wouldn’t be bored. She was able to feed Abigail with her good arm, and Abigail seemed much more willing to eat when Molly did it. Sherlock watched and tried to imitate her and found it got easier.

She was over at Sherlock and John’s flat the afternoon after her cast came off. Sherlock saw her muscles were slightly atrophied and it was still hard for her to move her arm, but she was able to hold Abigail well enough and she seemed happy with that. “Did you have any plans for the day?” he asked her.

“My youngest niece and nephew go to a play group at the park near my home,” she said. “My niece is around Abigail’s age. I was wondering if you’d like to go. Just to let her be around other children. You don’t actually have to interact with the parents that much. I can be a sort of buffer.” 

He’d been thinking about the idea more since John brought it up a few months ago. It wouldn’t hurt if Abigail was around other children, and at least if Molly was around this time it shouldn’t be as bad. He nodded. “We can go.”

“Good,” she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. He was still getting used to the physical parts of being in a relationship, the touching and holding and kissing, and he found that he didn’t mind them that much. Molly had been quite patient in taking things slowly. So far, he hadn’t done anything very wrong, and he was glad for that.

At a little over nine months Abigail had mastered standing with support, and now she was trying to walk on her own. Catching hold of her when she was crawling was becoming more of a challenge because she was quick. It took them about ten minutes to get her as she decided to go into Sherlock’s room and crawl under the bed, but they finally got her. Together they got Abigail ready and then Molly drove them to the park.

Sherlock immediately felt unsure about all of this. There were no other fathers there, for starters, and everyone was dressed much more casually than he was. But he pushed that aside as Molly went up to the woman he found out was her sister-in-law and made introductions. Her name was Cassandra, and her daughter was eighteen months and her son was four years old. She smiled at Sherlock and offered him a seat next to her.

“Molly’s talked about you a lot,” she said. “Not always very nicely, so my husband and I were surprised when you two became friends.”

“I did treat her poorly for a long time,” he said. “I’ve been trying to make up for it for a long time since.”

“I know,” she said. “She told us that, too. It’s nice to finally get to meet you, though.”

“You as well. Molly has told me a lot about her family.” Abigail began to squirm in his lap and he set her down on the grass. She didn’t crawl off, but instead became fascinated with pulling grass out of the ground.

“She said you’re a single father,” Cassandra replied. “I was a single mother before I met Molly’s brother Robert. My oldest daughter is ten. I was very lucky that I had friends and family who helped after I lost my husband when she was two.”

“It does make things easier,” Sherlock said with a nod. “Molly is a huge help, and my flat mate and landlady help as well.”

Cassandra started to say something when she glanced over at some of the other parents who were staring and pointing as they talked amongst themselves. She rolled her eyes and then turned to Sherlock. “Ignore the gossips. Most of the women here know who you are and who your daughter’s mother is. When they found out it was all they could talk about.”

“Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea,” Molly said. “If I’d known that I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

“I dislike most of them anyway,” Cassandra said. “Why don’t we take our children and move somewhere away from them? To be honest my children play more by themselves and I’m not too fond of their children anyway.”

Sherlock grinned. “That sounds like a good idea.” He picked Abigail up, and Cassandra picked her daughter up while Molly went to Cassandra’s son. Molly picked up both Cassandra and Sherlock’s bags, and they walked closer towards the play structure. Soon the other women were much less noticeable, and Cassandra got them a bench to sit at close to the play structure. Her son, who Sherlock found out was named Robert after his father, went directly to the play structure. Abigail crawled over to Cassandra’s daughter, named Samantha, and the two of them began to play.

“They seem to like each other,” Molly said with a smile.

“I think it’s because they’re closer in age. Most of the other children in the playground are closer to Robert’s age,” Cassandra said with a smile of her own. “There weren’t a lot of infants in the play group to start with, and most of the other mothers got tired of the four gossipy hens you saw today. If I called them up we could probably start a playgroup of our own,” she said towards Sherlock.

“Are the other women gossips?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. When they found out that I knew someone who knew you they never asked to pry for information or anything like that. These women may gossip about celebrities sometimes, but it was more that we would talk about our children and issues we were having with them. You might learn a lot from them.”

He thought about it for a moment, and then nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t be adverse to it,” he said.

“Excellent,” Cassandra said. “We usually meet up once a week for a few hours. I know with the nature of your job you won’t always be able to make it, but that’s okay. Stuff comes up for everyone.”

“Are Jennifer and Melissa going to be invited?” Molly asked.

Cassandra nodded. “And there’s a woman who moved in next door to me with a ten-month-old girl I thought I might invite. She needs new friends and she seems nice enough. She’s an American journalist who moved here with her husband last month.”

“Do you know any fathers?” Sherlock asked.

“Two single fathers. I’ll invite them as well,” Cassandra said. “At least that way you won’t feel so…singled out.” Suddenly there was a cry from the playground are. Cassandra looked over and saw Robert on the ground crying. “Watch Samantha for a moment?”

“Of course,” Molly said. Cassandra got up and went to her son as Sherlock watched her. She knelt in front of her son, brushing the tears away and then giving him a hug. “That’s going to be you one day soon.”

“Do you really think I’ll be that good at making her feel better?” he asked. 

“I think you’ll do fine,” she said reaching over for his hand. She squeezed it once, and he responded by linking his fingers through hers. “You know, there’s a few people at St. Bart’s who are single parents. I can introduce you to some of them.”

“Let’s see how the play dates go first,” he said. He turned his attention to the two girls and saw that Samantha was standing and Abigail was holding on to her. He nudged Molly slightly and pointed. “Look.”

“I think she’s going to try and walk,” Molly said excitedly.

As the two of them watched Abigail lifted the hand that was on Samantha up and then took a wobbly step forward, and then another. She made a third step and then fell down on her face. She started to cry and Sherlock was off the bench and over to her in an instant, picking her up and checking her over. Her hands and knees were dirty but otherwise she didn’t seem hurt too badly. “You started walking,” he said with a smile. He brought her back to the bench.

“I am so proud of you!” Molly said happily, kissing Abigail’s forehead. “You started walking all by yourself.”

“Did something happen?” Cassandra said as she came back to the bench.

“She took her first unassisted steps,” Sherlock said.

“You’re very lucky you got to see it,” Cassandra said with a smile. “When my daughter Maria started walking it was while there was a babysitter. She didn’t think to videotape it so I missed it. I made it a point to stay at home after Robert and Samantha were born so I didn’t miss it again.”

Sherlock set Abigail down again and she used the bench to pull herself up, and then she took some more wobbly steps again. “John is going to be sore that he missed this,” Sherlock said amusedly.

“Well, he got to see her crawl for the first time when you were at a crime scene,” Molly said with a slight chuckle. “It’s good that you get to see her walk.”

Abigail fell again but did not cry this time. She crawled back over to Samantha and the older girl let herself be used as a solid post. Abigail stood up again and walked some more. Sherlock watched with immense pride as she managed to make more steps every time she tried.

They stayed at the park for two hours. Cassandra invited some of the other parents over before he left and he got to meet the two people Molly had mentioned plus one of the fathers, a man named Alec. By the time Abigail started to get tired he was fairly sure he had found a new group of people to interact with.

Molly carried a sleeping Abigail to her car and put her in her car seat before turning to Sherlock. “I’d say today went well,” she said with a smile.

“It did,” he said with a nod. She stood in front of him and he put one of his hands on her waist. Her grin got wider and she stepped closer to him, giving him a soft kiss which he returned. When she pulled away he grinned at her. “You are going to accompany me to dinner at your brother’s home on Thursday, correct?”

“Of course,” she said, moving her hands up to the lapels of his jacket and straightening it a bit. “Cass is going to give him a glowing report on you so you shouldn’t expect too much of an interrogation.”

“I can handle an interrogation,” he said.

“Good, because this is a test run for the other part of my family,” she said. “My father used to work for Scotland Yard.”

“I have good intentions with you,” he replied, placing his hands over hers. “It took me a long while to see you as a friend, and longer to see you as more than that, but I don’t want to hurt you again, either on purpose or by accident.”

“That might be the nicest thing any man I’ve dated has said,” she said with a slight blush. “Most men don’t care if they hurt me.”

“Then I will endeavor to prove I am not most men,” he said. He moved her hands off his suit jacket and held them tightly. “John has mentioned that he would be home tonight. Perhaps you would like to accompany me to dinner, just the two of us?”

“I would like that,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve actually spent any time that’s just us since we started dating.”

“Good.” He let go of her hands and then opened the door for her. She grinned at him and got in her car. Sherlock was about to walk to the other side when his phone rang. He pulled it out and saw it was John. “Yes?”

“I need to work late tonight,” he replied. “I won’t be back until nine or so.”

“Well, that puts a damper on my plans,” he said with a sigh.

“What plans?”

“I just asked Molly if she’d like to go to dinner with me, alone.”

“Oh. Well, maybe Mrs. Hudson will watch Abigail?”

“Perhaps.” He hung up and got into the car. “John has to work late.”

“Oh,” Molly said in a disappointed voice. “So no date?”

“He suggested that Mrs. Hudson might watch her.”

“Maybe.” She started the car and they made small talk as they went back to his home. He got Abigail out of the car and took her inside. Molly shut the door behind her and then her phone began to ring. “Hello?”

Sherlock got Abigail settled as Molly took her phone call. When she finished, he looked at her. “What happened?”

“There was a massive accident. Even though I’m not supposed to work they want me in to supervise because my replacement is still relatively new. So I need to cancel our plans tonight.”

“It’s all right,” he said with a nod. “Perhaps tomorrow?”

“I still have some time before I can resume all my duties,” she said. “So provided we get everything done tonight I’ll have dinner with you tomorrow.” She went up to him and kissed him quickly. “Say good-bye to Abigail for me.”

“I will,” he said with a nod. He watched her leave and then he went back to the common room, peering in at his sleeping daughter. “It’s just you and me tonight,” he said. Abigail gave him no response, so he settled in with a case file and waited. He was used to being alone. Abigail woke up about an hour later, and Sherlock let her practice her walking some more. Being on more level ground helped. 

She was walking when John came in, much earlier than he’d been told. “I can’t believe she’s walking,” John said, shaking his head.

“She took her first steps at the park today,” Sherlock said, not looking away from his daughter. “It’s not nine o’clock yet.”

“I felt bad, so I rushed through my patients. Where’s Molly?”

“She got called into work,” he said. “Apparently there was an accident and she needed to supervise her replacement.” He turned to look at him. “We’re going to try again tomorrow night, if you wouldn’t mind babysitting.”

“No, I don’t mind.” He sat down in his chair, watching Abigail. “Life just got a lot more interesting now that she’s walking.”

“I know. Supposedly next will come her first word.” A small smile crossed his lips. “Mrs. Hudson told me she’s been calling me Daddy a lot. She very much wants that to be her first word.”

“What do you think it will be?”

“Haven’t a clue,” he said with a slight shrug. “I just hope I get to hear it.”

“What did you do today?” John asked.

“Met Molly’s sister-in-law and set up a playgroup with her. She was part of one but they’re gossipmongers so after meeting me and our daughters getting along well she decided to start one of her own. I met a few of the people she intended to invite. Then it was home and time alone.”

“You’re definitely becoming a very competent father,” John said with an approving nod. “And it’s good that you’re branching out your group of acquaintances.”

“I suppose. Thursday I have dinner with Molly’s brother and sister-in-law. Mrs. Hudson said she would watch Abigail that evening.”

“Your relationship with Molly is getting serious,” John noted.

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “We’ve been together for three months now. I don’t suppose I’ve messed up too badly.”

“Have you two actually spent time alone together yet?”

“No,” Sherlock said, shaking his head. “That was what we had been hoping for tonight.”

“I’ll make sure you get a date tomorrow, just you two,” John replied. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I ordered Chinese already,” he replied. “And I’ve fed Abigail as well. I’m just waiting for her to tire herself out.”

John looked around. “So, since there’s no need for me to babysit, I was thinking I might invite Mary over,” he replied.

“I can retire to my room if you want,” Sherlock said.

“You don’t need to,” John said.

“The last time I spoke to her we didn’t get along very well,” Sherlock said. “I don’t think she appreciated what I told her.”

“She talked to me about that afterwards. Once I explained you’re like that with everyone she seemed willing to try again.”

Sherlock shook his head. “Perhaps later. As you can see, Abigail’s gone back to crawling. If I’m lucky she’ll go to sleep soon, and I would like to get some extra sleep if that’s possible.”

“All right. I’ll call her and invite her over.”

Sherlock got up and picked his daughter up, bid John a good night and headed towards his room. He set Abigail in her crib and picked up the parenting book he had been reading. He read for a while, but Abigail didn’t go to sleep. In fact, two hours later she started crying. He checked her but she didn’t need to be changed, so he picked her up but she continued to fuss. He knew she couldn’t be teething yet, so that wasn’t why. “It’s all right, I’ll figure out what’s wrong.”

He carried her out into the kitchen, and he had completely forgotten that John was having company over until he heard Mary speak up. “Is that the baby?” she asked John.

“Yes, that’s Abigail,” John said. “Do you need any help, Sherlock?”

“I’m just getting her juice,” he replied. Then he paused. “Could you hold her?”

“May I?” Mary asked. Sherlock nodded, then went back out and handed her the crying infant. Mary smiled down at her, and her crying subsided slightly. “Do you have one of those sippy cups for her?”

Sherlock nodded. “Yes.” He went into the kitchen, filled up a cup with apple juice and put the lid back on. Then he took it out to them. Mary took the cup and gave it to Abigail, and she quieted down. “She was just thirsty.”

“She’s absolutely beautiful,” Mary said with a smile. She looked at Sherlock. “She definitely has your eyes and hair.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“We got off on the wrong foot, I think,” she said. “John has told me that you used to be a lot worse.”

“I was,” Sherlock admitted. “You just caught me on a bad day, I believe.”

“Would it be all right if I helped John watch her tomorrow night?” she asked. “I used to babysit my nieces and nephews and I miss doing it.”

“If John trusts you, I do as well,” he said. Mary looked up and smiled at him. “But I hope now she’ll drink and then go to sleep. She’s had a busy day today.”

“John told me she started walking today. That’s a big milestone,” she replied as she handed Abigail back to him. “You must be very proud.”

“I am,” he said. He looked down at his daughter and saw her eyes were fluttering closed. “I do believe she’ll go to sleep now. Thank you, and good night.”

“You’re welcome,” Mary said before he turned and went back to his room.

He set her on the bed next to him until he was sure she was asleep, then he set the cup on his nightstand and put her in her crib. He laid back on the bed, suddenly feeling extremely tired. He shut his eyes, not caring that he wasn’t in the clothes he normally slept in, and drifted off to sleep. It had been an eventful day, and he hoped the next day was better.


End file.
